The misadventures of Colonel Makepeace
by Scarecrows Host
Summary: Makepeace is given a chance to save his skin after his shenanigans with Maybourne
1. Chapter 1

Colonel Makepeace was sentenced to death by means of the electric chair on account of treason. He scowled at the judge in all his glory and looked at his orange overalls and number taped to his uniform as he was escorted out of the building by two guards to his left and one to his right. All the other men formally wearing grey were now dressed in attire similar to his own all receiving identical sentencing's – including Maybourne. They were terrified of death, but even more outraged at the prospect of Colonel Jack O'Neill once again thwarting their plans. The two groups SG1 and Maybourne's men had the same goal. The only difference was that some of those men were petrified about their planet being overrun by alien enemies. Each had sworn an oath to protect the country from enemies both domestic and foreign and Maybourne's men agreed that SG1's tactics were not direct enough. They agreed that what they were doing was wrong, they all knew it. But they had sworn in duty to protect their country and by proxy the whole planet. They thought that what they were doing was necessary – damn the consequences.

Fear had laced itself throughout all of Makepeace's veins as he was strapped into place. He could feel the pain as the charge of the chair was slowly increased. His tolerance held, but not for long. Soon the screams of a dying man rang out the room. The ward and guards presiding, had to cover their ears. Playing trumpet in high school and yelling at his men as a leader of SG-3 meant that the man had developed a good set of lungs in him. He learnt to use his diaphragm in basic training which meant that he could continue yelling for a considerable amount of time with no coarseness in his voice. The ward slowly increased the charge even more making the volume of Makepeace's voice unbearable. The caretaking men felt sympathy of pain at the thought of his torture. Each man, closed their eyes.

And when they opened them again, Makepeace was gone.

"Are you alright, Colonel Makepeace?"

Makepeace looked up and turned his head to the side. He gasped for air, still feeling the ghost pain of a severe electric shock. It was worse than drowning. Being a marine, drowning wasn't a foreign phenomenon. He had been ducked under water by his superior officers more than once in training, and he learned to love the burn of anoxia. Makepeace was a masochist. That's how he was able to progress so far. No one becomes a Colonel without a valid reason, guts and being a bit temperamental from time to time. He respected Jack; and understood why he went undercover like he did to overthrow their operation. But the Goa'uld were a much bigger threat then what Maybourne and his men could ever rise to become. Why Jack's attention was turned to them and not to the System Lords would forever remain an enigma in Makepeace's mind.

Makepeace turned to the little grey alien looming over his body like it was a specimen to be examined. "I am alive," He coughed, "why?"

"I am Thor." He stated firmly. "Supreme commander of-"

"-the Asgard fleet." Makepeace finished, lacking in any courtesy to his savior whatsoever. "Yeah, yeah. I read the mission reports." He said somewhat harshly, void of any emotion other than barely restrained anger. "So I ask again; why am I alive?" Makepeace brushed himself off the floor. His orange uniform standing starkly against the dull grey's, blue's and black's that usually composed Asgardian ships.

"Your questions will be answered in due course, Colonel," The little grey alien meandered back to the control panel and sent his ship into hyperspace.

"I want to know now." Makepeace rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. His anger flared at the Asgardians patience. If he wasn't demanding he wouldn't get the results he needed when he needed them. That wasn't how the United States Marine Corps worked.

"I have been dispatched to earth to beam you aboard to take you to the high council." Makepeace's temper was deflating bit by bit, but he could still feel his blood boiling. Sometimes Makepeace got an adrenaline rush out of anger. He lived on his rage like how most people live on food. His ex-wife left him for it. It didn't hurt as much as what he thought it would. He pushed through it like trying to move brick walls that refused to budge. The marines motto was embedded in his nature like sand on a beach. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. "I have set the co-ordinates on the computer to arrive on Orilla. In the meantime, I will answer any questions that you may have to the best of my ability."

Makepeace turned his head from side to side and glanced out the window. He could see the purple-bluish glow of hyperspace meaning he had already exited earth's orbit. "If you had of given us one of these bad boys, we might not have needed to do what we did."

Thor's big bulgy eyes that engulfed half his face, looked up at him indifferently. "Indeed, but the Asgard have problems of their own. I presume that you know of the replicators?"

Makepeace turned his face towards the little grey guy that took such a liking to Jack O'Neill and shook his head, almost feeling insulted. "I am a Marine, not stupid," he glanced upwards and saw that the alien had only blinked, his face remaining overall very neutral. "And I was the leader of SG-3. I had my own battles to fight."

"Then you know of the dangers they pose to the Asgard?"

"Yes," he snarled at his supposed ally. "And they will soon become a problem for us if you don't give us the things we need." Makepeace's temper once again, flared.

"Even so, the Asguard cannot spare the technology to do so." He moved one of the white stones on the control panel to open a room full of earthen supplies. Water, food, and BDU's equipped with a GDO and combat boots. The only thing missing were the weapons. The Asgard were very intelligent; Makepeace guessed that they knew he would likely shoot himself out given the chance. He wasn't one to think before doing; he followed orders. He was good at that. "You are more than welcome to change in there if it is what you please." The Asgard placed several stones on the control panel and moved them from time to time only stopping to glance up at the large display monitor off to the left, ignoring Makepeace almost entirely.

He set his jaw defiantly to the right and walked into the tiny room, Thor closing it behind him. He looked at the several boxes of supplies that were given to him. He wondered about the food and water, thinking that perhaps it was poisoned. _If that were so, _He thought, _they intend to kill me. They want me alive. Otherwise they would have let me die. _He unzipped his overall's discarding them and tore off his white t-shirt underneath and replaced it with a black one. He pulled on the unpatched BDU trousers and tightened the green belt around them. He laced up the black boots and tied them at the top of his ankle then tucked a military standard hat into his pocket. He tugged on one of the green jackets and looked himself in the mirror displayed in front of him.

He was never one for dress and looks but the more and more he changed out of the orange uniform the more and more he began to feel like himself. He hadn't ever had the patience to bother with style. He thought that the only people on earth – nay, the universe – that should care about their looks were girls. He had a soft spot for pretty girls and he was always so awkward around them, but boy, did he love pretty girls. He recalled one that he liked in high school. She had the blondest of hair and was the brightest girl he ever knew and ever thought that he would know. She looked very much like Samantha Carter only her eyes were brown, not blue.

Makepeace bristled himself and snapped out of his reverie. He wasn't in high school anymore that was obvious. He was now in his forties and his hair was beginning to grey. Wrinkles formed at the base of his chin and around his eyes, but were not yet defined like Jack's were. He was slightly less pale than he was in high school due to being out in the sun from all the training that he had to undergo in his years in the Marine Corps and being trapped off-world on planets that had three suns or more, but any women would have to be blind to deny that he still looked very handsome.

He sat on the ground, rummaging through the boxes for something to eat, finally settling on a red apple. He ate very lightly, taking only the bare minimum. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he had the feeling that the Asgard would not have interfered in his execution and compromised revealing their existence if it wasn't for a good reason. He was being taken to see the High Council; whatever he thought of the Asgard, that meant it was something serious, and something that he shouldn't walk into on an empty stomach.

After finishing the apple and tossing the core away, He used a bit of hand sanitizer to get the sticky feeling off of them. He took a swig of water from one of the bottles, then jumped to his feet. As he turned to the doorway it opened automatically, as if it knew that he was finished. He stepped through and found Thor still messing with the controls and flying in hyperspace. The tension building up inside of him.

"How much longer?" He crossed his arms over his chest and walked closer to the window, narrowing his eyes at it as if it was the source of all his troubles.

"A minute." Although the little grey alien didn't show it, Makepeace could hear a shrug in his tone. He stopped messing with the controls and looked up at Makepeace with his big glossy eyes. He watched as the monitor disappeared within the ceiling of the ship. They dropped out of hyperspace and then both he and Thor were beamed out in a blinding flash of white light.

Makepeace found himself standing on what appeared to be a hovering platform. He glanced above himself and saw about eight other Asgardians, besides Thor, descend in the same blinding white light that brought him there. He stood with his legs slightly apart with hands lazily dropped down by his side. He showed no sign of emotion. He looked at the Asgard, with a neutral expression on his face, but inside feeling queasy. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and suddenly the anxiety fell on him all at once. He thought maybe the Asgard had an even worse punishment then death planned for him.

"We, the High Council of the Asgard race, call upon you, Colonel Robert Makepeace, to answer for your crimes in theft from the Tok'ra, Tollen, Asgard and the Humans across the Galaxy."

Makepeace was growing impatient as he rolled his eyes. "Hey! We needed those things to defend ourselves!"

The Asgard took what the human had to say to heart. They knew the predicament that earth was in; it was a unique problem for a planet. They knew of freedom and were willing to rid the galaxy of the oppressors when so many others would simply bow but they also knew that Earth, at least for the time being, could stand on its own. "Are you aware that many planets were destroyed in taking from the Asgard?"

The difference in voice from Asgard to Asgard threw Makepeace off for a second – but only a second. He understood the gist of what the little grey alien was saying, nonetheless. He felt like a child being chastised by a parent, only his crime was worse than taking the last cookie out of a cookie jar. "My first priority is to earth."

"It is not," came the voice of another Asgardian. "Earth's technological development is at a unique stage in its progression."

"It is infantile enough to a point where the replicators pose no immediate threat, yet advanced enough to the point where your planet can oppose the System Lords. Many other planets under Asgardian protection cannot say the same."

"Some Asgard protected planets, including many you stole from, fall under the latter category and have become subjugated to Goa'uld control because the technology that would otherwise have saved them was illicitly in your possession."

"The denizens of your world have an inter-galactic obligation to other worlds to protect it. If you do not, the Goa'uld territory will only grow as the Asgard protected planets fall and the System Lords will eventually turn their attention towards you."

Makepeace's heart turned to stone as he realised the gravity of the situation; in trying to protect his planet he may inadvertently be responsible for its downfall. "In doing so, you have condemned many planets to the slavery that they have been freed from for countless generations and under Asgard law, that constitutes you as no better than the Goa'uld themselves, and therefore punishable by death."

"So kill me already!" He yelled and heard his voice echo around the vastness of the room.

"But laws can be changed."

"As the technological development of earth continues to grow, the goa'uld will turn their attention to you prematurely and you will have engaged them in an unwinnable battle."

Makepeace turned his head to each Asgard as he spoke. "Under these circumstances, we deem your actions to be understandable but not pardonable. To excuse such crimes among the Asgard, we set forth four separate tasks to demonstrate the strength of your character, purity of heart and knowledge and wisdom."

"If you pass all tests, then you will be welcomed among the Asgardians and appointed official liaison between us and all the humans of the galaxy, a position that we had originally planned to give to Colonel O'Neill,"

"then why are you giving it to me?" He yelled. "Why me?" He repeated.

"The high council is using this opportunity to save a life. We believe your reasons to be marginally misplaced but also sincere. The same cannot be said for your colleagues. Many wished that one day, their operation would surpass that of the SGC and then expand on their territory to other planets by means of the Stargate for the sole purpose of personal gain. The people of earth would effectively become the Goa'uld themselves and we could not allow that to happen. Colonel O'Neill was offered the position of being liaison after apprehending the opperation, but refused, by saying that his place was on his team. It was left to us to find another to take his place."

Makepeace rolled his eyes at the mention of the other Colonel's name. _Flyboy, _He thought, _Sardonic, sarcastic, idiotic, arrogant, pain-in-the-ass, sad excuse for a Colonel. _"If I fail?" He yelled making sure that he was heard.

"Then it will be your death. Do you accept?"

Makepeace didn't even flinch. He'd been in life and death situations before and his nerves were working in overdrive. He could feel the adrenaline working through his veins and he was excited about the prospect of finally leaving his cell. He was eager to get out in the field again, even if it was alone without SG3 to cover his six and if it meant certain death. It was this that he was trained for.

"I do." He said without hesitation. He did as he was trained. He stood in rigid formation with his hands clasped firmly by his side as his form snapped to attention. Before his eyes, one-by-one each Asgard disappeared until he found himself in an empty room until he was also engulfed back in the bright white light.


	2. Chapter 2

Colonel Makepeace had not expected to be knocked out, but he obviously was. He didn't remember how or why, but he woke up on a foreign planet covered in trees. He felt like he was waking up from an anesthesia injection. He gripped his head and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at the sky and found it was still blue with a gas giant looming overhead. "Not earth," he said out loud to no one in particular.

"Indeed this is not earth, but an abandoned planet on far reaches of the galaxy called Himinbjörg." Makepeace turned his head to find a grey alien. He could tell it was Asgard, and that it wasn't Thor. His voice gave it away.

"Who are you?" He asked skeptically.

Makepeace tore his gaze from the sky as he turned his gaze to the tunnel that he figured that he was supposed to go through. He peered down at earth's ally who looked so fragile that Makepeace could break him with a flick of his wrist. "Greetings, human. My name is Heimdall."

"Doesn't even sound like a name," Makepeace mumbled.

"Indeed, it is a name that has not been in common use since the days of the Norse." He said with a happy note in his voice.

"Then you'll have to refresh my memory. I am not Dr. Jackson."

"Indeed you are not, however Doctor Jackson will meet you along the way."

"SG-1 is in there?" Makepeace peered around the edge of the cave to check for people inside but all he found was more rocks that one of the geeks back at the SGC would drool to get their hands on.

The small alien with disproportionately large eyes lowered his gaze at the denseness of this humans mind. "This tunnel you see is only an illusion. It is known in your world as a Bifrost. And I am its gamekeeper."

"Doesn't ring a bell." Makepeace's mouth tightened in a straight line as he continued to talk to the little guy. "Can I just get this over with?"

Heimdall heaved a great sigh "Be warned; should you chose to go further there is no other way but to move forward. Once this has started, there is no stopping it. You will face three challenges in there and the fourth will be elsewhere. There will be help granted to you along the way."

Makepeace huffed impatiently and folded his arms across his chest. "Let's get this party started."

Heimdall shook his head. He liked O'Neill better – that seemed to be the general consensus for the entire race. He waved his hand over the white stone attached to his narrow wrist and a force shield that was activated was drawn downwards and collapsed into the ground. He turned around again to peer at the entrance going into the cave but hit what felt like a solid wall. He moved his hand up and down and figured that it was kind of like a lock, but only to trap people in instead of keep them out. "You weren't joking were you?"

"Indeed, I was not."


	3. Chapter 3

Makepeace ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Follow the yellow brick road." He turned around the bend to see that the force shield was protecting him from much more then leaving, but also prevents people on the outside really seeing what was on the inside.

The cave was not a bleak black hole in the ground. It was a vast room full of blinking colours. Makepeace was at a loss. He glanced down the edge of a seemingly endless cliff. He kicked a rock down and didn't hear it hit the ground. He tried yelling for help, but not even Heimdall responded. He glanced upwards and found no escape upwards and repelling wasn't an option. So he looked around aimlessly noticing a cross of moss, gorse and mold growing on the gold plated rocks.

"Aw, Hell. Talk about Technicolor." He grumbled. He backed away from the rocks and looked around again, this time with a purpose in mind; to find ventilation. There was none. Makepeace was no medic, but he knew that a high enough concentration of those plants meant it became hallucinogenic and pretty soon he was going to start seeing things. The big gape in the ground that formed an endless cliff is likely real; he didn't think that he had been exposed to the mold long enough as he stepped in for it to take effect but from what he'd heard and seen of the Asgard, they could do just about anything by way of technology. The cliff could be a façade, hallucination or not.

"Wow, cool place you got here, Makepeace. Built it yourself?"

Makepeace swiftly turned around instinctively reaching for his weapon that would ordinarily be attached to his hip by means of a holster but finding none at his side. He wiped a drop of sweat off of his face by what he saw. Standing before him was a crisp clear image of Colonel Jack O'Neill. A sly smile formed on Jacks face. He stood motionless as Makepeace doubled over in pain. He wiped his face again. He straightened up. "Jack, what the hell are you doing here?"

Jack tilted his head to the side and scratched his chin lazily. "Well that's the tricky part. Carter could probably explain it better than me. She's really smart you know. Can figure things out like that!" He snapped his fingers exaggeratedly for emphasis.

Makepeace rolled his eyes. "Jack?"

"Long story short; I'm not here, you are." Jack pointed to Makepeace with a partial serious tone overlapping in his voice. The childishness that was typical for Jacks nature had disappeared. Realization came to the Colonel.

"What? I imagined you."

"Yeah, more or less." O'Neill shrugged.

Makepeace began shaking his head. "Sorry, Jack. But why the hell would I imagine you?"

"Maybe you like me the best."

"You're the one that put me in prison for trying to defend the planet!"

"No, Makepeace," Jack somberly shook his head. "You were doing it wrong."

"Whose to say that I'm doing it wrong!" Makepeace yelled as his face turned red at yelling at Jack. He coughed. Jack only stood as the Jarhead regained his bearings.

"You can't freak out like that here, Jarhead. You're running low of oxygen and as you've already guessed, there are no vents."

"What are you doing here, O'Neill?"

"I think that's for you to figure out."

Colonel Makepeace doubled over in pain. His gut was telling him that the problems he was experiencing were not coming from the mold alone. He hit himself in his stomach and gripped the side of the cave as the dizziness flooded through his mind. His eyes weren't dilating correctly and his entire body fell limb against the floor of the cave. "Go to hell." He muttered as he passed out.

O'Neill just stood with his hands in his pockets gently rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet. He casually cocked his head to the side and a smile crossed his face. His emotion was completely unchanged by Makepeace's condition. "You first." Was his only reply.

It was many hours later before Makepeace awoke once again to find Jack staring at him again. "Rise and shine." He smiled brightly.

"What the hell are you still doing here?"

"Like I said, that's for you to figure out." While Makepeace was still trying to gather his bearings, Jack looked around the room. "Now, usually, I'd offer a hand, but I'm not really here. So, unfortunately my hand won't do you much good."

Makepeace ran his hand through his hair and rolled his eyes at his imaginary friend. "I don't need your help."

"Well obviously you do, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"You're a figment of my imagination Jack." Makepeace wheezed.

"Yes, I'm sure that a Jarhead such as yourself has many figments, why then am I the one chosen to appear?"

"Because you're a pain in the ass!"

"Yes I am. What are you going to do about it?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'll leave when I'm no longer needed. Find what you have to do and I'll be on my merry way."

Makepeace scratched his head and punched the dirt wall that felt as hard as steel. He pulled his fist away and shook it frantically as it bruised. Anger now dissipating, he turned to his friend. "I don't know where to start."

O'Neill shifted his jaw and stared blankly into space then an idea suddenly burst its way into his mind. "What have the Asgardians said to you?" It was obvious that Makepeace was struggling to remember. He silently cursed his aging mind. "Did they say anything?" Jack paused and urged Makepeace to speak. "Oh, c'mon Makepeace! The Asgard don't usually leave us completely clueless."

"Some Asgard named Heimball-"

"Heimdall."

"Was stationed at the entrance. He didn't say much though but the Asgardian high council said that I would encounter three trials here and one that's not here that would determine my worthiness to live. None of them said what they would be, but that I would need courage, strength, wisdom and knowledge in order to pass. If I failed, it meant death."

"I don't like the sound of death." Jack remarked coolly.

"Neither do I."

"The first, virtue, if you will, is courage. So you have to do something courageous."

"No kidding, Jack," Makepeace rolled his eyes. "A monkey could have figured that one out."

"I'm a little bit smarter than a monkey."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Makepeace shook his head.

Jack smiled ruefully at him and dismissed his last comment as a remark said out of frustration and friendly banter between Jarheads and Flyboys. "What are you most afraid of?"

Colonel Makepeace snapped his attention back to Jack. It was a highly irregular question to ask and it surprised him. Ordinarily, Makepeace would have told him where to shove it, but this wasn't Jack; it was a figment of his own imagination. "Heights." Makepeace cringed. "I hate heights."

Jack walked to edge of the cliff and leaned over it as if he had nothing to fear. Jack thought hard as he scrunched his face like a little kid trying to figure out what two plus two equaled. Makepeace grew impatient. "Cheeky buggers." Jack remarked as he smiled to himself. He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "This isn't really here."

"Come again?"

"You have to cross it."

"Nah, I threw a rock down there before. It fell but I didn't hear anything echo."

"No. That is empty space," Jack said pointing to where Makepeace stood. "This is a pathway." Jack drew in his finger and pointed northward in the direction in front of him. "You have to follow it."

"Jack?" Makepeace cocked his head to the side in fear.

"What, scared?" He challenged.

"No." He said all too quickly.

"Good." Jack turned back to the invisible pathway and pointed. "Cross it." Makepeace grimaced but swallowed his fear. He put his hands out to balance himself unsure of the width of the pathway. "One foot in front of the other." Jack mumbled quietly.

Makepeace started to sweat and placed one foot on what felt like solid ground but what looked like empty space. His mind began to play tricks on him as he felt the sensation of falling without falling. He shook his head as if in a bad dream and continued moving onward. He wiped his face. "Jack. I can't do this."

Makepeace turned around only to find that in the space that Jack once stood he saw no one. He knew that Jack was just a hallucination to begin with, but he heard a voice and could speak to it and it replied. It was likely a sign of insanity but now that it wasn't there, he felt truly alone. Makepeace turned his head forwards and kept walking. When he got to the middle of the platform he began to lose balance in his ankles then collapsed and crawled. It was a disgraceful way to get around but he found that his balance was better and the pressure that was building up in his ankles was disappearing. When he made it to the other side he managed to open a door that lead to a different room before he collapsed on the ground with Teal'c looming over him.


	4. Chapter 4

He rocked back and forth like a frightened child in a cold sweat. He gripped his heart and it felt heavy. He curled himself up into a little ball and rolled on the ground. Teal'c seemed unfazed by the ordeal. "You must get up, Colonel Makepeace if you are to continue on this path."

Colonel Makepeace cocked his shaky head up in Teal'c's direction. He tried to move his mouth but it wouldn't budge. He smelled a chemical in the atmosphere of the room but he didn't care very much about it. It could have been processed petroleum for all he cared, he just wanted the torture to end. Everywhere on the outside of his body felt numb. He tried scraping at the dirt and all he felt was nothing. Colours blurred in front of his face and he saw them swirl all around the room. Teal'c stood as stoic as ever, not even noticing the trouble the Marine was in. "You must get up." Teal'c repeated.

Makepeace attempted to open his mouth and speak but a shot of pain akin to electricity shot through his jaw then down his spinal cord and within a second he felt pain throughout the skeletal structure of his entire body. Every muscle tensed around the bones and he could feel his body seizing up. He didn't know what was happening to him. He felt like he was going to die, or maybe having a heart attack he wasn't sure which one it was. It could have been that his mind knew he was going to die because of the heart attack. Granted that he was getting old – he certainly wasn't getting any younger – but he knew that heart attacks weren't common for his age; by all means he was in perfect health.

Yet, the pain and numbness attested differently. He felt hundreds of years older then what he was. In spite of the pain that laced his mouth, he spoke. "What's happening?" He mumbled.

"Your body is going through a state of shock. You need to calm yourself, Colonel Makepeace otherwise the fear will take a hold of you."

Makepeace continued to writhe in pain on the ground. The intensity was only growing. "I am human not Jaffa!"

"Get on your feet." Teal'c ignored Makepeace's complaints.

The stiffness in his bones made it difficult for him to stand. He stumbled and fell. He fought passed the brick walls that lined all the joints in his body and he stood, though not fully as he fell over twice. He crouched in a kneeling position before his body gave out and forced yet another collapse. He exerted a tremendous effort in standing. "Okay," he breathed before he collapsed again. "I'm on my feet."

The strength and will it took to force his body into a standing position made him wheeze like he had asthma. Teal'c's face remained emotionless. "Climb the rope." He stated simply.

"What?" Forcing his jaws apart made them close together in a violent snap but the only pain he felt was the movement from the bones, not the impact. His entire frame was wracked with electricity that was unprecedentedly felt.

"Climb." Teal'c repeated.

Makepeace gripped his chest with two firm arms. He tried to separate his hands but the minute he lost the strength they collapsed back into a locked position. He tried taking deep breaths but the more he breathed in, the worse his condition grew. He collapsed and was once again writhing on the floor in pain. His mouth contorted into a straight line as he struggled to move his hands. He reached into his pockets and deftly tied a bandana around his mouth. He tried to tie it behind his neck but his hands were refusing to budge. After no more than a moment, the numbness on the outside of his body began to disappear. He still felt the pain pulsating throughout his whole body but at least he could feel something on the outside now. He picked up a scrape of dirt from the ground and relished in the texture as his hands shook. It was a good sign; it meant that the blood was going back to his hands.

When his hands began to feel normal again, he tied a knot at the back of his neck then stood on his own two feet expecting another shock of electricity to surge, but receiving only a sense of numbness in its place. He breathed deeply and tiredly. He looked up at the rope that the imaginary Teal'c was expecting him to climb. Anger replaced fear. "You expect me to climb that?"

The rope that Teal'c was standing in front of stretched to the ceiling of the darkened cave. For all he knew, it had no end. "Indeed."

Makepeace glanced at the Jaffa and noticed that his image began to fade quickly. The Colonel squinted his eyes to narrow his focus and as he did so, Teal'c faded completely from sight. "Aw, Hell." Makepeace opened and closed his fists to test for blood flow. The pain had subsided almost completely and the shaking had stopped. "Well, I did one in gym class. How hard can this be?" He approached the rope, giving it a fair tug. Once determining that the rope was secure, he began to climb.

He estimated that he was 20 feet about the ground before he grew tired. There was a small ledge sticking out from in front of him where he chose to stop and rest. Every muscle in his body ached. His breath ran short because of the bandana that he wrapped around his face, but he dared not take it off; the other sort of pain he experienced before was debilitating, what he felt now was nothing by comparison. After five minutes rest, he continued to climb. "It's carry on or turn back. Turn back isn't an option," he said out loud though not even his imaginary friends were present to hear him.

Makepeace climbed and climbed. He thought there would be no end. He looked up and saw that he was no closer to the top then when he started. He grew frustrated at himself for not knowing when it was going to end or if there was an end to begin with. He was up high enough to see that if he fell he was as good as dead. He sighed and heaved, but he kept going nonetheless.

"Keep going, just a little longer." Makepeace looked around frantically searching for the disembodied voice. "You're almost there Colonel. Don't worry."

Makepeace glanced upwards. "Jackson?" He yelled. The boy was looming over the cliff carelessly and happily. The brightness in Daniel's mood irritated Makepeace, just like it always did. He continued to climb.


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel first saw his scarred left hand, then his muddy right and then his sweaty head as Makepeace hefted his body over. Daniel was leaning his shoulder against the side of the cave with his feet in a cross formation and his arms tightly secured around his lanky chest. Makepeace knew that Daniel was nothing but a figment and his thoughts were completely irrational but he could no longer bottle his anger – not that with-holding anger was a talent he possessed to begin with.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled.

"To tell a story." Daniel smiled.

"Sorry but books were never my thing. I wasn't a nerd unlike you."

"Doesn't matter," Daniel shrugged, "I'm still going to tell you a story."

Makepeace punched the side of the cave. Daniel's eyebrows rose above his hairline. "What the hell is with these Asgards'? I don't have time for stories. I almost wish I had taken the electric chair instead." Daniel laughed incessantly. "What are you laughing at?" Makepeace went to grab Daniel by the collar but Makepeace's hands passed right through Daniel's shoulders. He didn't even flinch.

"Not here, remember?" Daniel pointed to the ground, "here." Daniel's finger hovered over Makepeace's left temple.

"You need to follow me." The boyishness in Daniel Jackson had been replaced with seriousness as he jumped to his feet. Makepeace grumbled but followed Daniel further into the cave until Daniel stopped in front of an embedded sign on the wall and nodded to it. Makepeace didn't notice that Daniel had been carrying a book in his hand. It had to be at least an inch wide. "Know what it says?" He asked.

Makepeace stared at Daniel's book, disgustedly. He saw that the title of the book was written in the same language as the sign that Daniel was pointing to. "It looks like a different language." He said obviously.

Daniel ignored Makepeace's sly remarks. "It says; I hear the silence and in the silence, I hear the sirens."

Makepeace shook his head. "Which means what, Jackson?"

Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and sighed. "It's a warning. The sirens in Greek Mythology were part-bird part-women that sang songs that were so beautiful that men forgot to eat and starved to death. But that isn't who they are."

"Who were they then?"

Daniel turned his head to the side, "that depends. Who is it the girl that you love the most?"

Makepeace's jaw was set to the side in defiance. "Get to the point, Jackson."

Daniel's mouth tightened into a straight line. "There is a Siren that is imprisoned behind this door," Daniel pointed behind himself using his thumb. Makepeace glanced at it for a second. "You can't listen to her, whatever you do."

"Then what can I do?" He said impatiently.

"Commit this to memory; Water is deadly, yet it is my salvation, in and out we go about it in my frustration. Do not sleep, for the monsters will come, and when they do, all will be said and done," Daniel smiled as if he'd been reciting a nursery rhyme.

Makepeace shook his head and pointed to Daniel. "You had damn well give me a straight answer, boy," but his figure began to fade away like all the other figments before.

All Makepeace heard was the hollow echo of Daniel's voice "I wish I could, but I can't."

If Jackson wasn't a figment, Makepeace would have punched his face in rather than pounding the wall. "I hate this damn place! Get me outta here!" He screamed. When no one responded, he took a few steps closer to the door and looked at it in confusion before it opened automatically. He stepped inside and then it closed immediately behind him. He looked back for a second then lost interest in it.

The room he found himself in was small. No bigger than his kitchen at home. At the forefront, a blue sparkling pool of water was found. It was surreal. "Robert?" He heard a voice, a women's that was strangely familiar. "Robert, is that you?" He felt a punch in his gut and bile rise in his mouth. He scanned his eyes over the room and found a pale white blonde girl hiding from him behind the wall.

"Celeste?" He asked.

"Robert!" The girl ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Makepeace was surprised that he could touch her at all. This, unlike everything else, was real.

"How are you here?" He gasped returning her hug with equal intensity.

"The Asgard put me here." She muttered into his stomach. "This is my prison."

"What?"

Makepeace looked down at her. Although Celeste had gone to high school with him, she looked like she hadn't aged a day passed 19. He held her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. Then she lifted her head and kissed him gently. The touch made him feel warm all over. He deepened the kiss and held her even closer to himself by the small of her back. She touched his face and pressed in closer. He broke away when he began to question how she still looked like a teenager.

"You don't look any older."

She shivered and locked her hands around him. "No. Time is slower here; while you aged on earth, I was stuck in the Bifrost."

"That day, you went missing, at the school, you were here?"

Celeste nodded. "The Asgard took me. They wanted to experiment on me because I have a certain gene they're looking for."

"What gene?" Makepeace took a few paces back and slid down the wall. He pulled her onto his lap. He rocked her back and forth as he laid his hand on top of her stomach, kissing the side of her face and neck. She shivered under the contact.

"They say that I have a gene of a race of humans that existed here a long time ago. Loki was a scientist assigned to experiment on me to see what I could do. You remember how I was stronger and faster than most at our school?" She asked.

Makepeace nodded.

"They thought that I was strong and fast because I was more advanced from the gene."

Makepeace was angrier then he had been all day. His grip around the girl tightened. "I promise that I'll kill them. I kill them all if I have to."

Celeste mouth twitched as she turned herself around to face Makepeace. "Maybe. But for now you need to rest."

"Yeah," he responded. "Rest." Celeste kissed him senselessly and tiredly as she laid on top of him. He put both his hands on her hips. Then a faint memory surfaced of a time when He and Samantha Carter had been trapped off-world on an ice planet on a reconnaissance mission. She had become hypothermic and he had to cuddle the Major for body heat.

"You can't sleep, Colonel. You need to stay awake." The voice had changed from Celeste to Samantha Carters.

Makepeace's eyes burst wide open remembering what Daniel told him, "I can't sleep," and he saw what should have been brown morph into bright blue. She wasn't Celeste; she was the siren that Jackson had warned him about. He got himself off the floor and dived into the water. She followed him and they kissed as they were both submerged. But her hair wasn't long and blonde anymore, it was short and golden. He kicked her away and saw a bright gleaming object shining from the bottom of the pool. As he picked it up the blade extended from the hilt. Her eyes grew wide in shock just before he stabbed her with it. Crimson swam around them both as the screams rang out from the cave. Makepeace wasted no time he pulled himself to the surface, immerging on the other side. An Asgardian was standing in wait.

"Am I done yet?" He asked sardonically. The sweat had been washed away, but Makepeace was still miserable and drenched. His mood was not the best.

"No," It was Heimdall again, "There is one more left." Heimdall stated firmly. "Your test of Knowledge. You are to go back to earth, through that portal." The Asgard nodded his head to the direction of a circular doorway that looked like it was covered in ice. "And give that sword to Major Carter. I'm afraid that earth is in danger at the moment. And you have the means to fix it, so fix it you shall."

"Hey!" Makepeace exclaimed, "That doesn't fly with me." He hissed angrily. "But the minute I go back there they're going to electrocute me until I die or start shooting me on the spot or better yet, I'll just splat against the iris."

"They will not," came the calm voice of the grey Asgard.

"Excuse me?"

"They have been notified of your arrival, Colonel Makepeace."

"Notified by who?" Makepeace demanded.

"Thor." Colonel Makepeace wiped his face dripping with water. The icy cover protecting the gateway, unsealed itself with a wave of a stone held by Heimdall. "I suggest you hurry. If you fail, there will be no chance for redemption."

Makepeace rolled his eyes. "If they need to be saved so badly why don't you do it? You have the technology." 

"That is where you are wrong. The technology lies in your hand. We cannot operate it because the Asgardian Physiology will not allow it. You must be the one to save them."

"Make me." Makepeace dared. He would not move from where he stood. His feet were firmly planted on the ground when the Asgard gave a slight nod of his head and the beaming technology glowered all about him and he found himself inside the wormhole flowing on a one way trip back to earth.

Colonel Makepeace emerged on the other side with heavily armed weapons aimed directly at himself with the sword in hand, still drenched in his fatigues. His clothes clung tightly to his body.

Hammond, O'Neill, Carter, Teal'c and Jackson stood in the control room watching Makepeace with amusement and caution plastered on their faces. Makepeace threw the sword on the ground and watched as the blade sank back into the hilt. One Airman hit his knees as he was gazing at SG-1. He groaned in pain as the Airman cuffed his hands behind his back.

"No place like home, is there Jack?" Makepeace called out in a desperate attempt to save face.

"Depends on whose home you're in." Jack called back over the Intercom.


	6. Chapter 6

Colonel Makepeace was escorted by a team of Airmen into a containment facility. He wasn't sure how long he was waiting. No one was around him not even in the observation room. He writhed in his chair like a worm hopelessly trying to break free of his restraints with no luck.

"Makepeace." Jack strode in with Major Carter at his side glaring at the former commander that sat in the chair. Her expressions were unreadable.

"What are you gonna do to me Jack? Shoot me."

"Oh I really want to, but sadly my little grey friends in the sky want to keep you alive. Apparently, you have something we need to save the galaxy again."

"Well it seems to me like you have everything under control so why the long wait?"

There emitted a light behind Jack. Carter turned around to face the light and Jack turned his back on Makepeace. He shifted his own gaze as the image of an Asgard began to form.

"Heimpall, again?" Makepeace rolled his eyes in irritation.

"If you mean Heimdall, then I am not him."

"Who are you?"

"I am Thor."

"Right, should have known." Makepeace rolled his eyes.

"Thor, Buddy! How have you been?"

"We have been trying to contact you for over a month now and you haven't been responding. We were worried." Sam stated simply.

"Indeed, the beaming technology, sublight and hyperdrive engines are fully operational however everything else is offline."

"Ahh 'scuse me. Can someone fill me in?"

"I don't know if I even want to, Makepeace."

Makepeace rolled his eyes. "Look, I know that I didn't agree with your methods of obtaining-"

"You stole from our allies! If you had stolen from Great Britain they would have thrown you in prison! And their prisons are worse than death!"

Makepeace rolled his eyes at Jack. "Is that coming from personal experience, Jack?"

O'Neill had to resist the urge to hit him. "What you did, Makepeace was wrong."

"Be that as it may, I still care about Earth just as much as you do and I would never jeopardize its safety."

O'Neill's eyes were alit with anger and fury but he knew that Makepeace was right.

"Sir," O'Neil's gaze shifted to Carter, "He did what he did to try and save the planet. I don't agree with how he did it but he isn't a threat."

"You're defending this guy?" O'Neill asked incredulously. Carter let out a breath of air.

"Indeed, Major Carter is right. This is why we saved him, Colonel." Thor spoke, "His heart was in for the safety of the planet not to get gain or because of jealousy. He is the right one."

O'Neill sighed deeply. "Have Frasier test him then we'll debrief him. His heart might be in the right place, but his head isn't exactly screwed on the right way."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Makepeace was just as confused as ever. Accompanied by Dr. Frasier, a medical team gathered around him quickly as O'Neill and Carter took a few steps back. Dr. Frasier drew his blood as she lifted his sleeve that was still wet. He watched as the vial filled with his own blood as if he had never seen it before.

"How long?" Jack asked.

"Half an hour, tops." She responded. The medical team scurried away as they dressed the incision.

"Good, in the meantime you can think about what you've done as you sit patiently in time-out."

"There isn't enough time for that, Jack." Daniel walked in closely followed by Teal'c at his side. "We just received a message from the Tollen that the System Lords have almost completely finished the weapon."

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Makepeace screamed.

"So what do we do?"

"We need to hurry, but he needs to know what he's walking into first."

"Indeed. O'Neill, there is not much time." Teal'c pleaded.

O'Neill grumbled something unintelligable. "Fine. Teal'c escort our fine friend to the briefing room." Teal'c immediately began untying the restraints around Makepeace's legs, torso and chest but left his hands cuffed. Makepeace tried jerking away from him to no avail. "Daniel get that drive from Carter's office."

"Sir, I can get it." Carter began to move but was stopped in her tracks by her CO.

"Negative. You're with me. Thor," O'Neill turned briefly to face the Alien, "You know what to do." Thor disappeared in a white flash.

Everything left Makepeace's head spinning.


	7. Chapter 7

Makepeace sat in his chair beside Teal'c he knew that Teal'c could wring his neck if he wanted to. Even his glare was enough to force Makepeace to stir. His eyes remained fixed on Carter.

Hammond sat at the head of the table, O'Neill sat beside him with Carter on the other side. Daniel walked in with Carter's external drive in hand and he dumped it on the table in front of her.

"Careful. You could break it." Carter remarked casually as she plugged it into the computer and waited for it to load.

"Right sorry." Daniel mumbled.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Makepeace repeated impatiently.

"I'm sorry Sir," Jack turned to Hammond, "Did you hear something? Or am I just hearing things?"

Everyone in the room ignored him and turned to Major Carter as the lights dimmed. "Within the last few months, the System Lords have been developing a weapon that if successfully completed will be able to send highly charged electromagnetic particles all through-out the galaxy via wormhole technology." A grid appeared on the screen of a diagram of a pyramidal object with an eye of Ra on the front and a circular object resembling a Stargate on the bottom face.

"Carter! Big words! Little brain!" Colonel O'Neill hit his head on the table in front of him, frustrated.

Carter ignored him. "The particles will disperse upon reintegration and create a viral worm that will activate other gates within the galaxy and replicate the virus sending out the electromag-"

"Woah," Makepeace shook his head, "You're not talking about an EMP are you?"

"Yes, Colonel, that is exactly what I am talking about."

"I thought those only happen after a nuclear blast."

"Ordinarily you would be correct however there are EMP generators only this is on a much larger scale."

"How?"

"Because many of our weapons are electrical. If they fire this we have no defense against them."

The reality of what Carter had just stated sank in. "Everything nuclear we have will be operational but the controls to use them would be fried. The hybrid technology made of Naquada will still have limited use but without the electrical power to compensate for the instability they'll explode."

"Okay, so we'll be without weapons for a while. I don't see what the problem is." Daniel stated deftly. "Can't we just repair them?"

"No," Carter shook her head.

"Why?" Daniel blinked quickly in confusion.

Carter's gaze turned to the floor beneath her feet. "Watch," She said gravely. She pushed the play button on the remote that she held in her hand. The eye of Ra that was depicted on the outline of the grid lit red and shot a thick yellow beam that was aimed at the planets core. Within minutes, the planet was reduced to nothing more than space rubble.

"Oh." Daniel said dumbly.

"When our defenses are down, that's when they'll hit and we won't be able to stop it."

Makepeace was irate at Carter's words. "What the hell? We can't defend ourselves and our so-called allies aren't going to help? You gotta be kidding me!"

"Slow down, Makepeace." Hammond commanded, "We know how dire the circumstances are, but this time our allies did give us what we needed."

"In the form of what? A sword?"

Thor beamed in beside Carter. "Indeed, this is a sword but not a sword of an ordinary kind-".

"You're right! Unlike all the swords, the blade can suck itself in!"

"-It can only be utalised by an Ancient or someone who possess the same gene."

"Gene? The gene that siren was talking about? She said that Lockie-"

"Loki." Thor corrected.

"-was conducting experiments on people with that gene."

At that moment, Dr. Frasier entered the room with the lab results hidden inside a manila folder. "Sir, his results tested positive. He has the gene."

"Thank-you doctor," Hammond said calmly over his shoulder, "You're dismissed." With a quick tap of her feet and a nod of her head the good doctor left in a scurry.

"Long ago, before the Asgardian genetic degradation began and the Asgard occupied their first world, Valhalla, we created a device known by your ancestors as the Rainbow Bridge. It worked much like the Stargate created by the ancients only it is always present like a permanent divide within the dimensions and could only extend to three places. The first was Valhalla, the second was Himinbjörg, the third was Midgard or as it is called now, Earth. Over time, the technology was sought out by many and then the Great Invasions of Sirens began."

"Sirens? Like part fish part human thingys that drag sailors down to their deaths?" O'Neill asked.

"Actually, that's a fictitious tale spun by Hollywood." Daniel answered.

"Come again?" Jack asked.

Daniel blinked several times. "Sirens, according to the Greeks, were actually part-women part-bird who sung in very high pitches that made Salior's forget to eat and so they would eventually starve to death while listening to the Sirens sing."

Jack dropped his head to the table. "I like my version of the story better," He mumbled.

"The birds, as doctor Jackson said were not a part of the race but the technology they used to find Valhalla."

"You, you're talking about ships?" Jackson asked.

"Indeed, Doctor Jackson, I am. When the motherships reached the orbit of Valhalla they released a very high pitched sound that resonated throughout the planet causing, what Major Carter referred to as an Electromagnetic Pulse. The high frequency could not always be heard by our ears, however, those who could hear it did indeed forget to eat and eventually starved to death."

"Makes sense." Sam reasoned.

"To you maybe," O'Neill scowled.

"That's a great story thur-"

"Thor."

"Whatever. That still doesn't explain the sword." Snarled Makepeace.

"This sword was taken from Hogni the first member of the High Council of the Asgard by Aglaope the Siren."

"Doctor Jackson?" Hammond questioned.

"Ah, Hogni was the King of the Asgardians according to Norse Myth and Agalope is a character from Greek Myth who sang to Odysseus's Crew to their deaths. Some say that she had many faces and could change forms."

"Indeed, she could. Agalope was something like a General in your Army. She commanded the soldiers to take prisoner everyone in the High Council including Hogni. When she took his sword and claimed it as her own we then discovered that these Sirens also possessed the Ancient gene. When the Asgardians captured Agalope, she was taken as prisoner but our holding cells could not hold her. She escaped them all using Hogni's sword and we could not kill her. The only option left was to imprison her inside the Rainbow Bridge and then seal it. Those tasks that you faced inside the Bridge were devised to warn people away from the Siren."

"Then why did you let me go through with it?"

"This was forged by the Ancients made from Diamond. Hogni was an Asgardian but He was also half ancient and so therefore It is useless to the Asgard."

Thor picked up the handle of the sword but the blade did not extend. He gave it to Makepeace and Carter jumped back when the blade extended outward for him.

"Colonel Makepeace, you have the Ancient gene. As does Colonel O'Neill."

Makepeace placed the Handle of the sword gently on the table and watched as the blade once again sank inside itself. "If Jack has it too, why did you need me to get the Sword?"

"Aldosterone." Carter mumbled.

"What was that Major?" Makepeace asked.

"Aldosterone is a naturally produced steroid in the body that helps with regulating salt and potassium," She began, "But over-dosed concentrations of it will produce seizures, numbness and muscle weakness. Colonel O'Neill was given shots of it on our last mission when we were captured by the System Lords in an attempt to weaken his body. He's fine for now, but he can't take much more of it."

"So?" Makepeace questioned.

"Aldosterone is produced as a byproduct of this weapon."

"Oh."

"Neither Daniel nor I possess the gene, but we still need to use the sword because it is the only materials strong enough to break through the eye of Ra. That's its only weak spot. And its shields will be down only as the weapon is getting ready to fire."

"And I am Jaffa. I could not utalise the technology even if I wanted to." Teal'c sat stoically where he was.

"Its gotta be you," Jack stated firmly, all mirth gone from his voice.

Makepeace sat back in his chair thinking about everything that he'd been told. He clapped his hands together and moved forward in his chair. "Let me get this straight," He paused, "You want me, to stab a hole through an eye of a doomsday weapon of mass destruction using Hogans-"

"Hogni-" Thor interrupted.

"-Sword in a futile attempt to save the world again?"

"Pretty much." Jack nodded.

"Okay, fine. But if I do this, what happens next?"

"You can't stay on this base," Hammond stated bluntly, "The people who were going to execute you are already starting to wonder how you managed to disappear into thin air."

"The president had to order them to stay quiet so they wouldn't going around asking too many questions." Carter admitted.

"And you're a security threat." Jack stated.

"Yeah," Makepeace rolled his eyes, "I got that. So what happens?"

"You would be a liaison to earth from the Asgard." Thor stated.

"Don't we already have that agreement?" He snarled.

"We do. But there are other technologies that the Asgardians found in possession of the Sirens that are also Ancient in design. We cannot use them but if the earthlings can, then that is where they must go."

"Why don't you just hand 'em over?"

"Because many of those technologies were not safe with us. We could not use them, but it was possible that other races who were threats to the Asgard and the planets under Asgardian Protection could. If any of those races were to invade again, they would take possession of those weapons so they were protected in places in the far reaches of the galaxy that we can no longer go to because of our genetic degradation. You could fulfil this task for us and then bring what you find back to earth."

"You'd be doing what you always wanted, Jarhead." Jack shrugged.

"Indeed," Teal'c muttered.

Makepeace needed no moment's hesitation. "Alright, when do we start?"

SG-1, Makepeace and Thor were whisked away in right before the General's eyes. A smile came to his face. "That'll never get old," he chuckled.


	8. Chapter 8

SG-1, Thor and Makepeace found themselves onboard an Asgardian mothership hovering above earth with Makepeace's sword dangling at his side.

Almost immediately, the ship opened a hyperspace window and all occupants felt the force beneath their feet. The Asgardian disappeared behind two control panels and hollographically created a miniaturized version of the weapon that the System Lords intended to use.

"This is the weapon drawn to scale of approximately every millimeter to a mile in length and width."

Every head in the room turned to gaze at Thor in disbelief.

"How big is it exactly?" Makepeace asked.

"It is in the size of a Goa'uld mothership," Teal'c's voice reverberated throughout the control room.

Daniel and Makepeace's eyebrows were raised above the hairline and Jack lifted his head up.

"Yeah," Carter agreed, "We have to find a way to get onboard and stab that sword through the eye." Carter nodded her head in the direction of the sword deftly handing by Makepeace's side.

"Indeed, Major Carter is correct. But if all goes well, the System Lords have not yet launched the weapon."

"So we won't have to fly out into space in the space suits and the weapon won't be prepped to fire."

"Hopefully not."

"Hopefully?" Jack said, his voice riddled with doubt.

"Admittedly, O'Neill Tollen and Asgardian Intelligence is not the most reliable source of information in the Galaxy."

"But you guys are supposed to know everything. The Tollen are technologically advanced and you're Gods! It's a winning combination." O'Neill exclaimed.

"As you know, we only pretended to be gods until such time that earthling civilization had progressed enough in its evolutionary path to exist without a belief in-"

Jack O'Neill waved his hand in dismissal. "Yeah, yeah, I hear enough of that stuff from Danny-boy." Daniel snapped his head around to glance at Jack with a furrowed brow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel asked, uncertain about if he should be insulted or not.

"It means that you've been spending so much time with Thor that you're starting to rub off on him."

"So?"

"So stop it! I can only deal with one of you."

"Dealing with two of you isn't any better Jack!" Daniel whined.

"There aren't two of me!"

"Oh yeah! How many times have you been cloned? You can't even get along with-"

Makepeace was rolling on the floor laughing so hard that he began to cry. He stomped his foot on the floor and wiped the tears forming in his eyes. "Never in my life would I have imagined anyone saying that to anyone!" Makepeace chuckled, "that's really good, Jack, you can't get along with you and yourself. Think if there were two of Major Carter that the worlds average IQ would go-?"

"Sirs!" She shouted, "Daniel," all the men turned to her, "we still need to find a way onboard the weapon."

"If it has a similar design to the rest of the Goa'uld motherships then it most likely has rings."

"Which would be useful except that Asgardian motherships don't have ring technology so we can't board the weapon from thor's ship."

"What about beaming? Thor you reckon you can-"

"I cannot O'Neill. Even if the weapon has not been launched and is still undergoing construction the perimeter of the area where the weapon is being built will emit a low level Siren which will block any Asgardian Beaming technology and it will also be heavily guarded."

The wheels in Carters mind were turning like clockwork. "How about you beam us close to the perimeter and we take out any Jaffa we see then Colonel Makepeace can stab the eye of Ra on the inside we cover his six and Thor beams us out when the weapon is destroyed."

"You would still have to Exit the perimeter as quickly as possible. The EMP will only be destroyed when the whole weapon is destroyed and If you are still within the perimeter by that time you will-"

"-be blown sky high?" O'Neill asked.

"No pun intended, Jack?" Makepeace raised an eyebrow.

"Oh no, Makepeace, that pun was completely intended."

"ahhh, guys!" Daniel said in sudden alarm, "Change of plans."

The Asgardian ship had dropped out of hyperspace and was hovering above the giant pyramidal weapon. The eye of Ra faced towards the planet and had not yet come online but it was plain to see that it was orbiting the planet. All members of SG-1, Thor and Makepeace gathered around the window that allowed for them to see into space.

"Are we cloaked?" Sam asked agaped.

"The siren is blocking the shields." Thor said in disbelief.

"Then we, as well as everyone on the planet are doomed." Teal'c breathed.

"We were too late, Jack." Makepeace said.

"So much for being hopeful." Jack remarked tersely.


	9. Chapter 9

"Is there nothing we can do?" Teal'c asked.

"I've studied every detail there is to know about the device. I don't know. We could jump into hyperspace."

"And what Carter? Run? We've never done that before."

"But sir! I've wracked my head for any weakness that the weapon has and I can't find one!"

"Think of one Carter!"

"Sir, with respect, I can't! There is not enough time."

"When has that stopped you?"

"Sir, with respect, not now." Carter was honestly trying her best to think of any weakness the device had.

"Hey Major! Didn't you say that the EMP charges down a split second before the weapon prepares to fire?"

"Yes, why?"

"See ya." Makepeace removed a stone from the inside of his jacket pocket and activated it. He was gone before anyone could react. They all looked outside to see that the Eye had begun to glow red.

"The weapon is charging." Teal'c observed.

"Damnit!" Jackson was still jumping up and down and slamming his fist on the walls of the ship.

"Sir, our Radios don't work over this distance."

"Thor?"

Thor handed Jack a white stone which he had used only a dozen times before. He spoke into it.

"Makepeace! Get your ass back on this ship! We're doing this mission as a team."

"Negative, Jack," came the muffled and static-ridden response, "you and me are the only two people here who can use this sword that will destroy this old son of a gun. And you can't be here because you've been drugged on Testosterone."

"Aldosterone."

"Whatever." Makepeace coughed.

As much as it pained Jack, he knew that Makepeace was right as did everyone else onboard. "What's the plan of attack?"

"Had the walkie-talkie over to Major Carter." Makepeace himself was growing tired and weary of the exposure.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because she's smarter than you, damnit!"

Jack rolled his eyes and handed it over to Sam who snatched it from his hands with a burning fury. "What's your position?"

Makepeace coughed and began describing what he saw. "I think in a mothership this would be the control room. I see two pilot seats only the window is covered in so much red that it looks like a giant ruby with a display."

"That would be the pupil of the eye of Ra. Stab it when it's about to fire. The blast will discharge and it will destroy the weapon in a matter of only a few minutes. We'll beam you off the second we get a chance."

"Roger, that. Standby."

Makepeace channeled his energy to the sword. His arm felt the heavy weight of the blade extending from the hilt. The room was very quickly filling up with a gaseous form of Aldosterone. He could feel it itch at his skin as it slowly seeped though. He felt the pain in his entire body that he had once felt in the Rainbow Bridge. It flowed through his body like an electric volt only it was worse the first time. His bones still cracked and creaked but it was more tolerable.

"Colonel Makepeace! Are you still there?"

He pulled out the communicator.

"Yeah, the Asgardian Walkie-Talkie still walks and talks!" He screamed.

"That's good to hear. But pretty soon the Aldosterone will fill up in the control room."

"You're a little late for that lecture Major!"

The mist began to cloud his vision. It made his insides churn just like what he felt when he was in the cave. _It's the same type of gas, _his mind concluded. The red rubies that laced the halls began to ignite in a straight line leading up to the pupil of the eye of Ra.

He slowly moved towards the front of the room and hefted the sword and stabbed it directly through the eye. The discharge threw him back a few feet but he had to retrieve the sword.

"We're going to beam you aboard, Sir!"

"That's a negative! I don't have my sword. Leave before the ship is destroyed from the static!"

"We don't leave-"

"-spare me the lecture Major! You stay here your sitting ducks!"

"No!" Major Carter cried.

"No time for arguing Major," Jack said from behind her, "Thor take us out of here."

"Sir! We don't leave our people behind!" but Thor's ship had already jumped into hyperspace.

And quite suddenly Makepeace was far out of reach, out of sight, but not even close to being out of mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Thor had SG-1 home inside of two hours. He had apologized many times to them all for the tragic death of their friend and had repeatedly said that Makepeace had died a hero.

When they were beamed down to earth, they looked at General Hammond with saddened expressions. Carter's face was stoic. "Colonel O'Neill you appear to be missing one." Hammond said gently.

"Colonel O'Neill left him behind." Carter explained through clenched teeth. The men of SG-1 looked at her, all expressions were unreadable.

Hammond took a minute to take a deep breath and closed the manila folder that seemed to be ever present in his hands. "Come with me."

He led them to the infirmary and pulled back the curtain where a cut-up, bloodied-up, puffed-up, swollen-up and yet somehow still alive, Colonel Makepeace was.

"Colonel, you have visitors," Janet pointed to a stunned SG-1 as Makepeace rolled his head to the left.

"H-h-how?" Daniel stuttered.

"Well long story short Jackson, I found the basement where the Stargate was located and it was my lucky day that there was a DHD there as well."

"And you dialed earth?" Daniel supplied.

Makepeace shook his head as vigorously as he possibly could manage. "Didn't have time to input the address and IDC so I dialed to the old Alpha Site and then headed to earth from there."

"How did you deal with all that gas?"

"Not so hot, Major," He lifted his swollen arm, "I can barely move but back when Heimvall made me take his Rambow bridge-"

"Rainbow," Daniel corrected, but Makepeace once again made no attempt to correct himself.

"-I was exposed to the same stuff there as well. Not quite as much but it was enough for my body to get used to it first."

"So what now?" Jack asked.

"Now I leave, Jack," He took a second glance at Major Carter. "But I'll be back just to be a thorn in your side."

"Ah!" Janet Frasier jumped and pointed her little finger in the air, "You need to recover."

"With respect, Doctor, I don't have time for that."

Makepeace tried to get out of bed, but was pushed back down by Janet. "Sir, I insist." She pulled her clip board closer to her chest. "I know that the Asgard are far more advanced than we are but they know nothing about human physiology. For the time being, you are in my care and here is where you will stay."

"But-"

"No arguing on this one son." Hammond kindly ordered, "You need to rest."


	11. Chapter 11

Janet held Makepeace as her prisoner for 3 days. He spent his time in recovery and healing but the galaxy doesn't wait for the wounded to heal. He was in better condition than when he'd walked into the SGC immediately after his mission but his vitals were still bad.

Makepeace did his rounds and said his goodbyes to everyone. The last person on his list was Major Carter. She was the one he needed to thank. It was his thoughts of her that made him realise that something was wrong with the Siren, but she didn't need to know that. There was something else she needed to know. He gently knocked on the door to her lab. She looked up from her project to see him staring at her. She snapped to attention.

"At ease, Major."

The major relaxed but only just slightly. "Leaving, sir?"

"Yeah. Our night is their day, so I leave now."

"I wish you good luck, sir."

Makepeace ruggedly moved his hands through his hair. "Thank-you Major."

"For what?"

Makepeace's stomach fell to the floor. His soft spots for pretty girls hadn't left with age. He hoped that by now, he would have grown out of his nervousness but no such luck. "I know you wanted to come back for me. I know you were mad at O'Neill for leaving me behind. But he did what was best."

Carter's gaze returned to the floor, "We don't leave our people behind, sir."

"No we don't. You learned that lesson well, Major, so can you make me a promise?"

"Sir?"

"You don't have to tell O'Neill if you don't want to. But promise me that you will come back for me if we bump into each other again?"

Carter furrowed her brow and nodded her head. He smiled. "Good and that will go both ways."

Makepeace abruptly made an about face on his foot and slowly walked out of Samantha Carters office. His eyes taking in every detail of her and the things that she worked on. It confused her.

In the distance, she heard the sirens go off and the spin of the Stargate rev to life and she knew that Makepeace was gone.


End file.
